Sleep problems, chronotype, and diurnal preferences in children and adults with spina bifida.

Spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) is a neural tube defect that involves dysraphism of the spinal
cord and extensive reorganization of the brain. The authors assessed
the relationship between chronotype, diurnal preferences, and sleep
problems in individuals with SBM and healthy controls. Although
individuals with SBM showed the characteristic decelerating quadratic
relationship between age and chronotype, the curve was displaced,
peaking at a younger age in controls compared with SBM (23.4 vs. 29.2
years). Groups did not differ in morningness-eveningness preferences.
Individuals with SBM endorsed more sleep problems than controls. Further
examination of the relationship between entrainment and sleep in SBM is
warranted.